Microsoft to embed Live services in Windows
BOSTON—Microsoft's Live-branded online services don't end at the Web browser. They extend deep into Windows. — The company last week quietly showed off software for embedding its Web-based Windows Live ID authentication services within Windows applications.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already previewed Windows Live and Office Live and, days earlier, recruited developers for its Live push. Embedding Live ID in Windows applications turns the service from a browser destination into a shared sign-in layer available to software running on the PC.
The move matters because Microsoft’s established control of the operating-system interface gives it a direct distribution route for an online identity service, rather than relying solely on Web traffic.
First-order effects
- Windows application developers gain a Microsoft-supported path to integrate Windows Live ID authentication, while users encounter Live sign-in inside desktop software rather than only in a browser.
- Microsoft can make Windows a distribution channel for its Live services, tying use of the online identity system more closely to the desktop environment.
Second-order effects
- Web services and desktop developers that want access to Windows users face stronger incentives to support Windows Live ID, making Microsoft’s authentication layer a more consequential integration choice.
- Competitors in online identity and Web services must compete not only for browser use but also against an identity service placed within Windows applications.
Third-order effects
- If Microsoft repeats this model across Live offerings, the operating system becomes a service-delivery layer: desktop software, user identity, and online features become more tightly coupled.
- The strategy extends the same platform-leverage concern associated with Microsoft’s prior expansion from Windows into browsers and office applications, making integration choices more important to competition than standalone service branding.
The trend: Microsoft is shifting Windows Live from a collection of Web-branded services toward an operating-system-embedded platform built around developer integration and user identity.